Forest Fox
by Inutori
Summary: Almost 20 years after Naraku's destruction, the Forest Fox, protecter of Goshinboku, curses Sango, Kagome & Inuyasha with eternal sleep. It's now up to their eldest children, along with Shippou, to find a way to set them free. -ON HOLD-
1. Goodbye World

**Tori:** yawns I'm tired right now, so I don't feel like doing a disclaimer.  
**Inuyasha:** :struggling with ropes: The…only reason…you're tired…is because you…wasted your…energy tying me…up!  
**Tori:** Ah yes, that's right. So now I really do own Inuyasha.  
**Inuyasha:** You better…take that…back or else…  
**Tori:** Or else what?  
**Inuyasha:** :stops struggling: I'll sick Japanese lawyers on you.  
**Tori:** NO! Not the lawyers! My dad is bad enough!  
**Kagome:** Tori, you know Inuyasha rightfully belongs to Rumiko…  
**Tori:** You're lying! A liar I say! A liar!  
**Kagome:** 0o  
**Inuyasha:** Wench, untie me before I kill you.  
**Tori:** If I untie you, you will kill me.  
**Inuyasha:** …

**_Prologue  
New Babe_**

Shira hugged her son close to her before waving her farewell. She was going back to her old profession, and her mate to his. Ari would be taking Shippou with him to teach him the trade of trickery. Oh how she would miss her little boy with his cute bushy brown tail and piercing green eyes.

She hurried down the road, away from the nearby village and towards the thick forest that once harbored her Fox clan. The sun was setting quickly and the shadows around her began to lengthen incredibly.

Clutching her furry vest to her body, Shira looked around for a warm place to stay the night. Everything had changed so much since she had left to be Ari's mate. The trees were bigger, the trails less obvious and hidden under the brush, and it was a lot quieter.

A cave suited her needs perfectly and she crawled into a nearby one slowly and curled up into a tight ball. Wind howled outside and every once in awhile an icy breeze would fill the tavern in which she resided.

She fell asleep shivering and woke up the next morning with small icicles dripping off of her body. Standing up, she brushed them off and exited the cave. A light layer of snow blanketed the ground and once again, everything was quiet.

Taking in a deep breath, Shira continued deeper into the forest she used to know so well until she happened upon a barren area.

Everything seemed to be burned down and the only things remaining were charred remnants of what were once hundred-year-old trees. That's when she knew why her forest was so quiet. In her absence, the forest was slowly dying.

She fell to her knees, shaking slightly at what lay before her. Then she saw the cattle grazing in the clearing, surrounded by a fence made out of logs. The humans had done this. The humans had killed her forest; and they were going to pay for it with their lives.

From that day forward, she went from village to village, pillaging and destroying. Killing all of the men, not even sparing the women and children. She had a heart, but she had built up a wall to the humans ever since they killed her home.

The months passed and Shira soon discovered that her forest wasn't the only thing that had been taken from her. A pair of demons, known as the Thunder Brothers, had killed her mate, Ari, and nothing was known about the well being of her son.

Angered even more by this news, she relieved herself by attacking more human settlements and killing more mortals. There was nothing left for her in this world…nothing at all.

One gloom some day, Shira found herself on the edge of a deep ravine. It had been three years since she had found out that Ari was dead and Shippou was missing. Four years since she had seen either of them.

Why was it that they decided to separate in the first place? Oh yeah, so she could help her forest grow. She had felt its pain while passing by and had wanted to reach out to it, only to discover that she was too late.

Shira hesitated at the edge, then took a deep breath and leaned forward. She allowed herself to fall freely towards the sharp rocks below; but she fell unconscious before she actually hit the bottom. It was probably better that way, anyway.

* * *

Tougi yawned as he continued his meaningless trek to his onii-san's den. "Why does kaa-san make me visit him anyway?" His long black hair was pulled back in a low ponytail and his light blue eyes shimmered in the sunset. 

He was walking along the bottom of a steep cliff, unconsciously grumbling about his dislike of his older brother, Kouga.

Out of nowhere, something fell on top of him and squashed him to the jagged rocks that he had been walking over. Tougi groaned in pain as he tried to shift his weight underneath what smelled like a fox demon.

Gritting his teeth, Tougi pushed himself up, sending the apparently limp body off of his back. When he flipped over to see what had fallen on him, his eyes met with the still form of a fetching young she-demon with auburn hair and a white-tipped tail.

"Man, she's cute." His tilted his head slightly, and leaned forward to poke the girl in the shoulder. When he received no reaction, all he could do was look up the high embankment to see just how far she had fallen.

It was at least 500 feet to the top. Good grief, what was this girl thinking?

"Well, I guess you're coming with me." Tougi picked up the unconscious girl and continued his trek at the same slow pace. He looked down at her peaceful-looking face with a stern frown. "You could've died there, you know. If I wasn't there to save you, you would have been done for." Even though she was unconscious, Tougi continued to talk to her like she could actually hear him.

After walking for a few minutes, they reached the edge of some woods, where Tougi decided could be a good place to spend the night.

Laying the fox-girl down, Tougi started a fire nearby and then ran off to hunt for some dinner. His black tail swished behind him eagerly with the thought of some juicy rabbit.

* * *

Shira clenched her eyes shut and silently prayed that she was dead. The smell of burning wood infiltrated her nose along with the scent of the forest and of wolves. 

Well, if she was dead, this wasn't heaven that she was in, that was for sure. A burning forest and wolves were two of her greatest fears. She couldn't muster up the courage to open her eyes and face this new reality until the sound of footsteps vibrating the ground lingered near.

Her eyes came open and she shot to her feet. At first her vision was a little blurry, and as things came into focus she realized that the forest wasn't burning, but there was a little fire built beside her. The fire was dying: probably due to the fact that it hadn't been fed for a while.

"You're awake!"

Shira jumped and screamed, jerking her head to look at the intruder. A tall young demon stood before her, holding a dead rabbit in one hand and one of his ears with the other. The expression on his face clearly communicated pain.

"Not so loud, the ears are sensitive, ya know?" He let his hand drop from the side of his face and smiled sheepishly at her. "So, what's your name?"

Shira just looked at him strangely, sniffing the air and catching wind of a wolf demon in the vicinity.

The male demon waited for a while, then laughed slightly. "Gomen nasai! My name's Tougi, second prince of the wolf clans!"

"Second prince?"

"I have an older brother named Kouga."

Shira looked at him, and then it dawned on her: second prince of the WOLF clans. "Y-you're a w-wolf?"

"Ya." He smiled, showing his sharp fangs. "What's wrong with you? You seem awfully pale all of a sudden."

**I  
Do  
Not  
Sleep**

**Tori:** :looks at readers: Good? Bad? Please review and tell me if you want more. :holds up one hand: If I get five reviews I'll put up the next chapter. I don't care if all five are anonymous and from the same person. I just want five, genuine reviews.  
**Shippou:** …Greedy, heartless pig…  
**Tori:** :cough: Anyway, ja ne!


	2. Happy Times

**Inutori:** Hey everyone out there!  
**Sagi:** 'Bout time you came back.  
**Inutori: **I just moved, as I stated in my bio, and so the computers and internet had to be hooked up. These things take time, you know.  
**Sagi:** So what?  
**Inutori:** I don't own Inuyasha...there was a person who reviewed another one of my stories and informed me that my author's notes before the stories were annoying and that I shouldn't do them. Well, if that person is reading this, I'll just tell them that they really don't have to. They can just skip it and go on to the story, it won't break my heart too badly. But by the time you finish reading this sentence you'll be at the beginning of the chapter already, so it's your loss.

**_Chapter 1_**  
**_Happy Times_**

Sango laughed lightly as Jinu tripped and dumped an armload of apples at the front entry to the house.

"Shush up, mom. Like you could do better." Jinu collected herself and brushed her long, dark brown hair over her shoulder to get it out of her way. She began collecting the spilled apples off the floor with indignity.

The retired taijiya laughed again. "You'd be surprised what this mother of yours can do." A brief flash of the fighting she had done in her younger years crossed her mind. It was much more peaceful nowadays…in this village at least. Inuyasha insured them of that.

Jinu sneered. "Yeah right, I bet you couldn't even make a decent stew if you wanted to." Those familiar magenta eyes flashed at Sango. Though being familiar was seeing them when looking at your own reflection as well as on your daughter.

Sango just shook her head and went on repairing Takuske's pants.

Conversation obviously over, Jinu stumbled past her mother and into the kitchen near the back of the house. She heard a loud noise and a small yelp a few seconds later, signifying that Jinu had tripped again.

That girl was so clumsy.

Sango took a deep breath and looked at the front door, reminiscing on the times when she still waited for her houshi to return to her. Those times were gone. He hadn't come in nearly two years. Normally he was only gone for a couple weeks or only a month. What was taking him?

She had given up the hope that he would come home to his family once again. Everyone was waiting for him.

Jinu, their oldest, just turned eighteen and was still not married off. The girl claimed she didn't even want to consider marriage until her father returned to approve of a guy.

Then there was Takuske and Hankui, the twins. They had been a handful since they were infants. Now they were about to turn 17. Takuske was courting Kagome's daughter Chisa, but Hankui was footloose and fancy free. Hankui's real problem was following far too closely in his delinquent father's footsteps.

Hotaru was twelve now. He was a sweet little angle compared to his two older brothers.

Then came Yuuka, still nine, who was Sango's little helper. She loved to do everything for anyone if it would make them smile.

Going on down the line, five-year-old-menace Chaos tore up everything in sight if only to see his mother's reaction to the disaster.

The youngest was Namise, a three-year-old girl who still refused to speak to anyone.

Sango smirked. When Miroku had said ten or twenty children, he wasn't joking. Jinu, Takuske, Hankui, Hotaru, Yuuka, Chaos, and Namise.

They were already at seven. However, from the looks of things, it was going to stay that way.

"Mom, can I get a little help here?"

Sango turned toward the kitchen, where the voice had come from. She didn't bother to move at all. "What do you need, Jinu?"

The frustrated scream that followed was Sango's signal that now was not the time to test her daughter. She set the material that was in her lap on the floor and stood up, allowing her kimono to fall into its proper place.

With a soft sigh she entered the kitchen to find a disaster. Used to this sort of thing after eighteen years of raising children, Sango looked around to see if the guilty party was still around.

To her luck, everyone but Takuske was there. He was probably out and about somewhere with Chisa.

"Who did this?"

Sango looked at all of her children, eyeing each carefully for a little insight into the clockworks of each of their little minds. The mess they sat in was made up of rice, wheat, dried fruits, and many other foods that had been stored in the cupboards for meals.

"It wasn't me, mama." Yuuka looked over from where she was coloring on some paper that Kagome had given her.

Sango nodded, awaiting everyone else's responses. "It wasn't me," suddenly blasted at her in unison from everyone else present.

"If it wasn't any of you, who made a mess of my kitchen?" Sango pursed her lips, giving her children the evil eye.

Jinu crossed her arms. "One of them knows something."

"Really?" Sango looked at Jinu sarcastically then back at the younger children.

"Hankui! Takuske caught him!"

A voice came from outside. The young male voice of Kagome's oldest. Taishou.

Sango looked at Hankui. "Caught what?"

Hankui didn't say anything, just kept his violet eyes trained on the disaster known as their kitchen floor.

Taishou ran in, his black-streaked hair flying behind him. "Come on! Hankui! What are you…oh." The dog-eared boy shrank back when he met Sango's glaring eyes.

"What is going on around here?" The firm demand left no room for avoidance, and the boys were forced to fess up.

"Hankui tried summoning a demon and this nasty looking slime ball showed up-"

"It was not a slime ball!" Hankui jumped up, glaring at Taishou.

"Fine, this fuzzy thing that looks like an oversized cat shows up and starts running around the village messing everything up." Taishou just shrugged like it was no big deal. "Takuske and Shippou caught it and so all's well now."

Kagome rubbed her temples then looked up at her only son. He was as frustrating as his father, unfortunately. Why couldn't he have been tamer like Chisa?

"You guys summoned a demon?" Kagome was just repeating what Taishou had told her. It got even less intelligent in her eyes as the minutes passed. What person in their right mind would summon a demon?

Oh yeah, adolescent boys.

"Yes, mother." Taishou shrank back against the wall, his embarrassment obviously building. "We just wanted to train."

Kagome buried her head in her hands. "By summoning a demon." She was stuck on that summoning a demon issue. It was just so stupid.

A high pitched scream resonated through the village.

Both Kagome and Taishou jumped to full alertness and listened silently. Everything was quiet.

The flap over the entrance flung to the side and Sango stood there with her boomerang in hand. Kagome hadn't seen Haraikotsu in nearly fifteen years; this had to be serious.

"Namise is gone." Sango's eyes were wide and fearful. Just as quickly as she had come, Sango was gone again.

Kagome dug out her bow and quiver of arrows without thinking and rushed towards where the scream had come from: Inuyasha's forest.

Speaking of which, where was he? Kagome ran as fast as she could, but she was no where near as light on her feat as Sango.

Through the cool night air they heard Inuyasha's yell as he released his Kaze no Kizu at something.

Kagome ran deep into the woods, getting closer and closer to the Goshinboku. Memories danced across her mind as she ran down the well-worn path.

She stopped in the clearing where the god tree stood, tall and proud. At its roots Kagome could make out the crouched forms of what must have been some demons. Their tails swayed behind them in warning and they were looking at Inuyasha. Behind them lay the still form of a small child

The hanyou held Tetsusaiga tightly in front of him and was growling at the pair of demons. His teeth were showing and so were those of one of the demons'; the one closer to him.

"_Leave us be, monster._" The one that seemed to be the dominant of the two stood up straight, revealing a small frame and female figure. "_Do not mingle in the affairs of the Forest Fox._"

**I  
Do  
Not  
Sleep**

Typing blooper: She loved to do everything for anyone if it would make them smell.

**Inutori:** I figured my blooper was amusing enough to include. It got me laughing.  
**Sagi:** Yeah, but you're crazy.  
**Inuyasha:** How come I'm not a big part of this fic?  
**Inutori:** You don't know if that's true…yet! I only just finished the first chapter! Honestly! I'm just trying to introduce the confusion that Miroku and Sango brought to us in having seven children. Let's see if we can keep track of them all…Below I'll include a little profile on her kids and Kagome's. The oldest ones are the ones you really need to know about.

_Sango's children:  
_**Jinu  
**Age: 18  
Gender: Female  
Hair: Dark brown/down to mid-thigh in braid  
Eyes: Magenta  
Height: 5'2"  
Weight: 117 lbs  
Likes: Cooking, learning from Kagome, and picking on Hankui  
Dislikes: Cleaning, being the butt of jokes, getting harassed about being single

**Takuske  
**Age: 16  
Gender: Male  
Hair: Black/worn like his father's in a rat tail  
Eyes: Violet  
Height: 5'10"  
Weight: 158 lbs (a little on the chubbier side)  
Likes: Chisa, swimming, pulling pranks, picking on Jinu about being single  
Dislikes: Getting caught in a crime, cleaning, sushi

**Hankui  
**Age: 16  
Gender: Male  
Hair: Black/braid down his back like Jinu (to his waist)  
Eyes: Violet  
Height: 5'10"  
Weight: 149 lbs  
Likes: Running, fighting, flirting, making sarcastic comments  
Dislikes: Being forced into something, demons (except Inuyasha & his kids), failing

**Hotaru  
**Age: 12  
Gender: Male  
Hair: Brown  
Eyes: Brown  
Height: 4'11"  
Weight: 92 lbs  
Likes: Reading, writing, inventing things, fishing  
Dislikes: Noisy people, brown nosers, cleaning, being treated like a child

**Yuuka  
**Age: 9  
Gender: Female  
Hair: Black/to shoulder blades in a low ponytail.  
Eyes: Brown  
Height: 4'5"  
Weight: 86 lbs  
Likes: Making people smile, flowers, butterflies, listening to Jinu sing  
Dislikes: Seeing someone be sad, winter, monsters, the idea of Jinu going away

**Chaos  
**Age: 5  
Gender: Male  
Hair: Dark Brown  
Eyes: Violet  
Height: 3'9"  
Weight: 57 lbs  
Likes: Tearing things apart, attention, demons, jumping  
Dislikes: Getting disciplined, being ignored, sitting still, not being able to fight

**Namise  
**Age: 3  
Gender: Female  
Hair: Black  
Eyes: Magenta  
Height: 3'2"  
Weight: 38 lbs  
Likes: Seeing new things, hugging people, playing in tall grass  
Dislikes: Being held upside down, people yelling, being told "no"

_As for Kagome's kids…_

**Taishou  
**Age: 16  
Gender: Male  
Hair: Silver w/black streaks/down like Inuyasha's  
Eyes: Blue  
Height: 6'  
Weight: 164  
Likes: Fighting, proving he's stronger, getting other people into trouble, running fast  
Dislikes: His pranks biting him in the butt, girls, anything sweet, tight spaces

**Chisa  
**Age: 15  
Gender: Female  
Hair: Silvery black/pulled back into ponytail and goes to waist  
Eyes: Amber  
Height: 5'6"  
Weight: 131  
Likes: Takuske, dancing, hearing about her mother's world, training to be a priestess  
Dislikes: Standing for hours on end, having to wait so long to marry, fighting, crying

Review, onegai?


	3. Strange Revelation

**Inutori:** Wow. I can't believe I've taken so long to update any stories. I feel like a complete loser, and I apologize.  
**Inuyasha:** You should feel like a loser: you have failed once again to take possession of me!  
**Inutori:** Alas, I do not own Inuyasha, but I do hold rights to all of Sango's and Kagome's kids, as well as the extra demons making appearances here.  
**Inuyasha:** Who else would actually want to own them?  
**Inutori:** Shut it, Inuyasha. :to readers: go ahead and read the chapter, my friends.

_**Last time…**_

_She stopped in the clearing where the god tree stood, tall and proud. At its roots Kagome could make out the crouched forms of what must have been some demons. _

_The hanyou held Tetsusaiga tightly in front of him and was growling at the pair of demons._

"Leave us be, monster_." The one that seemed to be the dominant of the two stood up straight, revealing a small frame and female figure. "_Do not mingle in the affairs of the Forest Fox_."_

_**Chapter 2  
**_**_Strange Revelation_**

Jinu pulled her youngest brother close to her; carefully watching the other four children. Her mother had just run out the door after they had heard that scream, telling her to watch the kids.

Takuske and Hankui were arm wrestling, trying to pass the evening and relieving some of the tension in the room. They all knew Namise was missing: they weren't stupid.

Hotaru was constantly looking out the window waiting for…something…anything to know that their mother and sister were alright.

Jinu just wanted some sort of reassurance.

Chaos pulled lightly on her kimono to get her attention.

"I'm scared."

In those two words the five-year-old boy had summed up what everyone there felt. Jinu could only nod, hoping that Chaos wouldn't see her fear. They all knew the dangers of the world; what if something awful had befallen Namise? She was still just a baby.

A knock at the door made everyone jump and stare at the flap of hide. Someone was there.

Someone pulled back the flap and Taishou stepped inside.

"What's going on?" Jinu nearly leapt to her feet, but the boy in her arms constrained her. The worried stretch of her voice was as plain as day.

Taishou looked up from the floorboards gloomily. "I…I'm not sure…"

He collapsed into an exhausted slumber, crumpling to the floor unexpectedly.

Jinu brushed Chaos out of her lap and rushed to the boy's side. He was running a fever. She looked up at Takuske, silently giving him orders. The sixteen-year-old nodded and dived into the other part of the house and then the swish of the demon hide was heard as he left the building.

Hankui knelt down to face Jinu, looking at the worn boy and then to his elder sister. "What's going on?"

She twitched when he questioned her; she had asked that very same question not a minute before. How slow can you be? "Taishou is sick." That's all she could do for a proper answer. She didn't know about anything else.

* * *

Shippou sniffed the air, lingering in the clearing by the Goshinboku before heading back to the village. The scent that clung to the grass was vaguely familiar but he couldn't decide why.

As a grown demon, Shippou could hold his own in battle: Inuyasha still acted like he was five. With that fox demon, Inuyasha had taken the initiative and told him to stand back. A lot of good that had done him; the younger demon picked up both Namise and the older demon and disappeared.

The she-demon had done something to Inuyasha, Kagome, and Sango as well. Shippou had been unaffected by it, but he was beginning to think that that had something to do with his fox-blood. Before him laid the three heroes of his life, the only one missing was Miroku. Kagome had collapsed on Inuyasha's back, having run to him when he was knocked down. Sango was pinned under her boomerang and looking the worse for wear.

They were all in some sort of trance-like state, not moving and barely breathing. He would find a cure if it was the last thing he did. Shippou stood tall, overlooking his adopted family with sorrow. For some strange reason Shippou got the sinking feeling that his vow was going to be hard to uphold alone.

He heard footsteps approaching fast from behind him, and turned just as Takuske rushed into the clearing. "Shippou!" The teenager was breathing hard, obviously having run quite a distance; most likely all the way from the village. "What happened?"

Shippou shook his head while looking at the ground, unable to explain what exactly HAD happened.

"Taishou collapsed and Jinu is taking care of him, come on!" Takuske glanced only briefly at his mother and her lifetime friends, not showing his feelings on his face. Shippou imagined that Miroku would have been the same.

The kitsune youkai nodded and followed Takuske back to the village, throwing one last glance at the three bodies lying there unprotected.

* * *

Miroku tapped his staff on the tree, listening to the echo it produced. The villagers were right; their sacred tree was indeed hollow. This goshinboku must have been thousands of years old based on its size. The whole village could probably stand in the trunk.

He cracked his neck and walked around the base of the tree; stepping over protruding roots and feeling the soggy ground give under his sandals. If he was correct, a demon was inside the tree.

What kind though? It didn't feel like any of the usual possessors and it didn't feel all that threatening; the tree was still living despite being hollowed out. Miroku looked around again and took in the surroundings.

The rest of the forest couldn't have been more than thirty years old, and from the rotting, charred stumps he could tell that the area was recovering from being burned. Just 100 yards off stood a wooden fence and he could see cattle grazing on the luscious grass on the other side.

Miroku could tell that the village was new, but they hadn't told him that they had massacred the forest. The demon in the goshinboku could very well be an angry tree spirit. He wouldn't feel right exorcising that.

A twig snapped off to his right and Miroku jerked to look for the source of the noise. Light cascaded through the leaf canopy above and a bird started singing, but there was nothing else there.

Relaxing, Miroku focused his spiritual energy on the immediate area and began picking up on things he had missed previously. The demon in the god tree was a forest fox: a weak one. He could tell that it was going to die soon. There was another presence too. A few, actually: there was a wolf demon, a mixed-blood demon, and a human female.

Relying on his sixth sense, Miroku stepped forward towards the trio. The youki signature of the wolf demon was very similar to Kouga's and Miroku wondered if it was the wolf leader. The mixed-blood demon was definitely female, and related both to the forest fox in the tree and the wolf demon. Miroku stopped in his tracks as he read the signature of the human. It couldn't be.

"Sango?" He opened his eyes, breaking the meditative state he was in. It had been so long since he had seen his wife that he wasn't sure if it really was her, but that feisty glow to her aura made him think immediately of Sango.

A demon with black hair appeared suddenly in front of him, the youkai's eyes glowing in amusement. "Is that her name?" The wolf held up a small child by her kimono and the girl looked at Miroku with frightened magenta eyes.

That wasn't Sango, but she certainly had his wife's unique eyes. He shook his head, hypnotized by the little child that was no more than four.

"Ignore him, he's just a wannabe priest." Miroku's focus turned from the child and wolf demon to the female mixed blood. She stood slightly behind the wolf demon, her face masked with a scowl. He felt his lecherous side take over as he eyed her small frame and bright green eyes.

Her hair was mainly an auburn color like what he remembered Shippou's as being, maybe slightly darker, except two large black streaks adorning either side of her head.

Miroku came out of his trance-like state when he realized that the two demons had walked passed him, seeming to forget that he was there. He jerked around and watched them sit down at the base of the tree, sitting the girl down and holding the back of her kimono.

He was about to speak when the bark of the tree seemed to ripple and a demon emerged. This was the third demon of the group that took on a human guise. Sango's caution about the demons that disguised themselves as humans suddenly came to mind. She said that they were the most powerful ones.

Assessing the third demon as it emerged from the god tree, Miroku could tell that it was ill and very possibly dying. It was a beautiful she-demon with flaming red hair with a tint of brown and a long bushy tail to match. Miroku then realized that all of the demons had tails. The wolf's was black, the fox's was red, and the mixed-blood's was a black-tipped auburn tail.

Miroku pulled himself into a defensive stance and spoke, "Release the girl to me or I'll be forced to exorcise you all." It was about this time that Miroku wished he still had the void in his hand to throw into the equation. Without the side effects of it eventually killing him, of course.

The trio looked up at him and the two strong youkai chuckled a little. "What are you going to do with her, give her to the local village?"

As irritating as it was, the demons were mocking him. "That would be my intentions, yes." Miroku hated the fact that demons seemed to hold no respect for humans and their families. There was probably some destitute young family missing their little girl just a few hundred yards away and these demons didn't care in the least. It was his job to right the wrongs committed by the fowl creatures in front of him.

* * *

Jinu tore through the house, frantically looking for things that could help her. She thought that she would have the best luck finding any sort of weapon in her mom's room, so she dug around in the trunks, throwing kimonos and miscellaneous this way and that.

With a sigh of resignation, Jinu threw herself back on the floor heavily. Unfortunately, the boards must have been loose because she fell right through the floor with a loud crack.

Shippou and Hankui came running in afraid that something had happened.

"Jinu! What happ-" Hankui burst out into laughter at the sight of Jinu.

Her rear end was hidden by the floor boards and her legs were flung upwards at what must have been an uncomfortable angle. The kimono she was wearing had ridden to mid-thigh thanks to gravity and had loosened and come off one shoulder as well. All in all she looked like a mess.

Shippou blushed and turned away, but Jinu's growl of "A little help here please?" tore him out of his embarrassment. He went to her side where he took hold of both of her hands and pulled her to her feet.

Jinu looked back at the broken floor boards and cringed momentarily. Her expression turned almost immediately to a smile as she knelt by the newly formed whole and pulled out a heavy, light brown sack.

Hankui and Shippou came around to either side of her as she untied the ribbon and let the bag's contents spill across the floor. She heard Shippou take in a breath and she turned around and gave him a strange look. "What's your problem?"

"That's Sango's gear. I thought she burned in." Shippou muttered in awe, staring at the junk that now cluttered her mother's floor.

"Mom's…gear?" Hankui tilted his head and picked up a short sword. "But why does she have weapons?"

Shippou cocked an eyebrow at Hankui. Jinu took the opportunity to collect a bundle of clothes and exit the room and go into the girls' room where she stripped her kimono and put on the sleek black material. It hugged her body like a second skin except around the waist. It was a bit baggy there, and the hips and bust felt a bit tight. Nevertheless, it would do.

She reentered her mother's room, adorned in the black suit that was accented by pink shoulder and knee pads and some pads that rested around her hips.

The boys took a moment to notice her, but when they did their jaws dropped. Shippou seemed to turn slightly red, too.

"Go put some clothes on, Jinu!" Hankui pointed a finger out the door, his expression turning from shock to anger.

"I'm not your little sister!" Jinu put her hands on her waist and huffed, not knowing why she didn't want to get out of the clothes that didn't fit her exactly as they should.

"No, but you're still my sister! Change!" Hankui didn't seem pleased at all with what his older sister was wearing.

Shippou handed Jinu a few more items from the bag in what seemed to be shocked awe.

When she looked at what she had been handed, she realized they went with the outfit. It was stuff including boots and wrist bands among other things. Pretty soon all of the stuff from the bag was somehow stowed on Jinu's person.

"You look just like Sango-chan with that on." Shippou still seemed to be in shock, and his voice was a bit distant.

Jinu nodded while at the same time pulling her hair up into a high ponytail and tying it. Her hair fell freely to a little past her waist when she put down her arms, swinging her head back and forth a little bit to try out the hold of her hair tie.

Somehow the new attire made her feel more confident in facing whatever it was that had taken her sister.

"Hold on a moment." Shippou disappeared out the door faster than either of the two others could protest and was gone.

Hankui looked at Jinu with a glare. "If mom were here she'd shoot you for wearing that."

With a roll of her eyes Jinu brushed him off, "Not necessarily. Shippou-chan said that this WAS mom's. She's probably worn it a hundred times."

Noise in the adjoining room distracted them and they both instinctively walked out of their mother's bedroom and into the main part of the hut. Taishou was stirring and the younger kids were bombarding him with questions.

"Jinu, you're mom has an oversized boomerang." The first words out of Taishou's mouth made everyone stop in their tracks and stare.

In that moment where breathing seemed to stop, Shippou burst into the little room carrying a large, off-white colored, curved something-or-other. He had a grin as he presented it to Jinu like a child would give his mother a wilting flower he had picked from her garden.

* * *

Miroku breathed deeply, trying to catch his breath after that hard run. He wasn't as young as he once was, as much as he hated to admit it. The quiet little girl was tucked under his arm, now safe from the demons' clutches.

Unfortunately, the demons had been too powerful to exterminate, so they were still roaming free. It was his hope that the youkai didn't have any particular need for this little girl so that he wouldn't have to deal with them again. So far it looked like this was the case.

He set the child down, scanning her with his eyes to ensure that she was unscathed. She appeared unharmed, at which he sighed with relief. Now he just had to figure out where the demons had picked her up.

"What's your name, kid?" Miroku wasn't sure the child could talk, based on her age, but he figured he could give it a shot.

No luck. The girl didn't answer, just stared at him with wide, magenta eyes. Eyes that aren't an everyday occurrence. Miroku cringed at himself. Sango would kill him if he ever came back. He had been gone far too long to expect any lesser punishment.

Jinu was probably married by now, being already eighteen. The twins too, knowing his blood ran in them.

Miroku looked once again at the little girl before him. She was just staring at him, no fear in her eyes. Feeling some sort of fatherly protectiveness for the girl suddenly, Miroku swept her back into his arms and continued his trek, this time in search of that village so close to the demons he had just fled.

**I  
****Do  
****Not  
****Sleep**

**Inutori:** KK everybody. The chapter's done, being over 7 pages long. I know it isn't much, but it is SOMETHING, right?  
**Kagome:** Am I dead?  
**Inutori:** Of course you're not dead! You're just not conscious.  
**Sango: **Am I dead? I was crushed by Haraikotsu, after all.  
**Inutori:** Nobody's dead!...yet…quite pestering me about it! Oh, and readers, thanks for reading my story, if you could leave a quick review it'd be appreciated! Then maybe I'll know I'm not hated. Ja ne!


	4. A Journey Begins

**Inutori:** I'm BACK!  
**Sango:** No one have a heart attack now.  
**Inutori: **Oh shush up. I have had other things to deal with, so meh.  
**Inuyasha:** And what's more important than me?  
**Inutori: **(rolls eyes) Get over yourself, Inuyasha. I don't own you, and my life doesn't revolve around you either.  
**Inuyasha:** Keh.

**Last time…**

_No luck. The girl didn't answer, just stared at him with wide, magenta eyes. Eyes that aren't an everyday occurrence. Miroku cringed at himself. Sango would kill him if he ever came back. He had been gone far too long to expect any lesser punishment._

_Jinu was probably married by now, being already eighteen. The twins too, knowing his blood ran in them. _

_Miroku looked once again at the little girl before him. She was just staring at him, no fear in her eyes. Feeling some sort of fatherly protectiveness for the girl suddenly, Miroku swept her back into his arms and continued his trek, this time in search of that village so close to the demons he had just fled._

**Chapter 3  
****A Journey Begins**

Jinu cringed suddenly as she remembered Yuuka's face when they had left the village. She glanced over at the three boys with her and wondered if they too were thinking about the ones they were leaving behind.

Chisa and Takuske were going to stay and take care of the younger kids while Shippou, Hankui, Taishou, and she hunted down the demons that had cast that spell on their parents. Not really thinking about it, Jinu readjusted Haraikotsu on her back and looked back at the path they had already trekked.

Taishou suddenly stopped, soon followed by Shippou and Hankui. Jinu took a few more steps towards the boys before stopping as well. "What's wrong?"

The quarter-demon shushed her and began looking around them quietly. She felt her gut turn slowly, and her grip on Haraikotsu tightened. Remembering her priestess training with Kagome, Jinu closed her eyes and tried searching the area with her heart. She wasn't nearly as good a holy warrior as Hankui, but, as her mom had said, it was sufficient.

Nothing popped out to her as out-of-the-ordinary, but she could tell that Shippou and Taishou were on edge. A demon overwhelmed her senses just as a snake youkai burst through the brush.

Jinu dropped to the ground in reflex and watched as Shippou and Taishou defended them from the demon. Taishou slashed at the demon, making the thing's blood splatter on his sleeve. With a cringe she stood up and pulled the boomerang from her back, wondering how exactly she could help.

Hankui began chanting and lights began to appear around the demon. She watched her brother for only a moment before gripping the wrappings on one end of Haraikotsu and using her body to throw the object forward as hard as she could. Once she released it, the boomerang spun towards the giant snake, missing it by a few feet and spinning around to head back to her.

Unfortunately the demon bone hit the ground a ways away from her, making her run to it to retrieve it.

"Work on your aim, woman!" Taishou growled at her, having barely dodged out of the boomerang's path on its return to its new owner.

"Sorry!" A grumble left her throat as she jerked the boomerang out of the ground and turned to look at the huge beast. She spread her feet and cocked Haraikotsu again, preparing for a second shot.

Suddenly the lights floating around the demon burst and it let out a pained roar. Hankui had finished his chant, apparently. When the dust that had been kicked up cleared away they were able to see the damage Hankui had done. Chunks of the demon were missing, yet miraculously the thing was still poised above them.

Shippou became a larger demon suddenly and chomped off the thing's head. Jinu screamed in horror and watched the two pieces fall unceremoniously to the ground.

When Shippou popped back into his humanoid form, he wiped the blood off of his mouth and looked at Jinu strangely. He seemed to be considering what he had done in front of her.

Hankui ran up to Jinu and smiled. "We did it! We beat our first demon!"

Taishou joined them, glaring at Jinu. "What's the deal with you? If you can't fight, go back to the village!" He pointed back down the path they had been trekking on all day, letting his rage show full force.

The brown-haired girl returned the glare. "I'll learn. I've never used this thing before, alright?" She held up Haraikotsu and shoved it in Taishou's face. "It's my sister we're trying to find here!"

"And it's a cure for my parents who are as good as dead right now!" Taishou yelled at the top of his lungs, stepping closer to Jinu.

"You guys!" Shippou interrupted, "We've barely started our journey. Stop fighting this instant." Both of the teenagers shot glares at the elder fox demon, but stopped arguing verbally. They stuck to sending each other death glares.

* * *

Miroku sighed, glancing down again at the little girl that reminded him so much of the home he had left. He probably had a kid this girl's age back home, but he had never seen him. Still, that didn't solve the dilemma of trying to find this little one's home.

So far he had been to three villages in the vicinity, but none of them were missing a girl this one's age. Everyone had assumed that the kid had been his own, and had commented to him about how unique her eyes were.

It was frustrating that no one seemed to know where she came from. Assuming that someone would recognize her without seeing her, of course, since he wasn't telling people that she was lost. If he did some family might insist on keeping her, and he really wanted to find her rightful home.

She smiled at him, her magenta eyes gleaming in the evening light. Her black hair was a bit messy, but Miroku had nothing to fix that with; she would just have to live with tangled hair. He smiled back faintly, still deep in thought about what to do with this little girl.

A wolf began howling in the distance and he listened as several others joined in. It wasn't the cry of a successful hunt, but more of an anguished scream. Miroku wondered what was making them wail like that.

With a shrug he slumped against a tree, figuring this was as good a place as any to stop for the night. The girl climbed into his lap and hugged his chest, looking up at him quietly. She hadn't yet spoken a word to him, making Miroku think that perhaps she was mute.

He watched the child fall asleep and felt himself drifting off as well, tired from a long day's journey. What had it been? A week since he had found the girl?

Just as sleep was about to take over him, a tall woman with black hair and dark eyes stepped into his peripheral vision. She looked at him silently, and then eyed the child in his lap.

"Her name is Namise."

Even in his tired state, Miroku could feel the tug on his mind and the words echoing hollowly. Then he remembered who stood in front of him: the Lady of the Northern Lands, Inutora. At least, he thought it was; but he was sure Inutora had died nearly 20 years ago. Another person with silvery hair stepped into his view, and this one he recognized as a demon.

Immediately he shot to full awareness, not wanting to be caught off guard by a youkai. With surprise he identified Inuyasha's elder brother, Sesshoumaru, glaring coldly at him.

He took another glance at the woman who had spoken, surprised to see that it wasn't Inutora, but an older Rin. She had certainly become beautiful through the years. The last time he had seen Rin she was only about eight.

Rin smiled kindly and tilted her head towards him, and then continued walking elegantly down the trail, Sesshoumaru walking beside her.

Strange.

He let sleep overcome him a few minutes later, dreaming of his home back in Edo.

Jinu kept kicking Kagome's son Taishou when he wasn't facing her, Takuske and Hankui were chasing some helpless cat trying to catch it, and Hotaru and Yuuka were playing tag with Kagome's daughter.

He looked around in pride at all of his children, wondering what they would be when they grew up. When he turned around he was met with the sight of his extremely pregnant wife carrying their two-year-old on her hip. She looked up at him, and he froze. Her eyes were completely white and she suddenly collapsed to the ground, dropping Chaos.

He tried to run to her but she only seemed to get farther away until everything was black. The little girl with the magenta eyes appeared out of the darkness, tears streaming down her face. "Daddy, mommy won't wake up."

Miroku jerked awake, sweat covering his brow. What a nightmare. After that imaging, Miroku suddenly desperately wanted to go home and see Sango. Tomorrow, he would head for Edo.

* * *

If things got any duller, Kouga was sure his brother's mate would suddenly rise from her grave to laugh at them. No one felt like doing much of anything, and his own mate Kyoko insisted that it stay that way until the next full moon.

Why? No one but Kyoko knew but they all had to obey her since she was alpha-female. Daiki and Akina were trying to pass the time by quietly arm wrestling, but he knew if Kyoko saw them, she was sure to make them stop. Everyone was to "mourn the loss of Shira."

Good grief; even Shira's daughter was trying to occupy her time until the next full moon.

Daiki looked Kouga's way suddenly, his piercing blue eyes asking for something even though Kouga could not tell what. The kid may have been his only son, but that didn't mean he could read the kid's every thought. He shrugged at the adolescent sluggishly, watching the moon rise in the distance.

Only one more week.

He sighed tiredly. There was no way the entire pack was going to last for another week like this.

When Daiki and Akina suddenly hopped to their feet, Kouga jumped slightly, and watched as they walked out of the cave towards the ascending moon and howled. Some of the pack sat up and began to howl as well, though Kouga was beginning to wonder if the anguish they were expressing wasn't for the loss of Shira any more, but for loss of being able to do anything.

The thought made him smirk. Then he realized what he was doing; just before his mate turned to glare at him for not joining in with the baying. What a pain.

After they were through wailing their guts out, the two youths ran off instead of rejoining the pack in the den. Kouga jumped to his feet in preparation to run after them, but his brother stopped him.

"Let them go, Kouga. Shira wouldn't like to see her daughter cooped up like this." Tougi's blue eyes shown despite his mournful expression, and Kouga sat down with a sigh. He had really been hoping to chase after his son and niece just so he could get out of this wretched cave for a few minutes and have a good run.

Guess that wasn't going to happen.

* * *

Akina laughed lightly and dodged behind a tree, making Daiki run right past her while trying to stop.

"Kina! That's not fair!" Daiki whipped back around to glare at her, his black hair blending into the forest thanks to the dark night.

"Life isn't fair, Daiki!" Akina laughed again before taking off in another direction. She glanced back at her cousin and waved quickly, a grin covering her face.

The forest was quiet all around them, the only sound coming from their light, quick footsteps and the leaves rustled by their movement. Without any warning, Daiki pounced on her and sent them both tumbling to the ground.

Akina let out a cry mixed with laughter and startled wrestling with the wolf prince, pinning him down fairly quickly.

She held a claw to his throat and smiled. "You're dead."

"Ehehe. For the hundredth time, yeah." Daiki smiled and sat up as soon as Akina released her hold on him. "We need a new pass time…you always win."

The green of Akina's eyes shown brightly, "That's the beauty of it."

"For you, but it's not as fun for me when I know I'm always going to lose." Daiki stood up and dusted his fur clothing.

Akina pouted, "Spoilsport." She immediately brightened and jumped up to stand next to Daiki. Her black-streaked hair lifted slightly in the breeze and Akina turned to Daiki. "Well, what mischief shall we make tonight?"

"I think I caught a whiff of a couple of travelers nearby. We could always go and harass them." Daiki smiled at his cousin, letting his blue eyes sparkle in the moonlight.

The she-demon pursed her lips, as if contemplating the suggestion. "Yes. Yes, that does sound amusing. Shall we then?"

The ookami youkai prince nodded and dashed off through the woods, leaving Akina to trail after him. As they approached the travelers Daiki had mentioned, Akina nearly froze with the aroma permeating her nostrils.

She hadn't been expecting to encounter _that_ houshi again…why did she have to agree with Daiki? Teeth clenched, she forged ahead and watched as they black-haired man came into view. Seeing him didn't surprise her, but seeing the little girl still with him did. 'Thought he wanted to get her home?'

The monk jumped up and into a fighting stance as they neared, apparently having sensed their youki. If he hadn't, Akina was going to tell him that he had best go back to monk-training-school or wherever it was that you learned how to be a monk.

Daiki stopped in his tracks, and Akina glanced at him as the monk and he had a staring match.

"M-Miroku-san?"

**I  
Do  
Not  
Sleep**

**Inutori:** Hehe…finished this chapter finally, and I hope you guys don't mind having so few of our favorite characters present.  
**Kouga:** How come Kagome isn't my mate? She is my woman after all.  
**Inuyasha:** How can she be YOUR woman? She has been LIVING with ME and has MY KIDS!  
**Kouga:** You've been brain washing her, dog turd. Perfectly explainable.  
**Kagome:** Uh…Kouga-kun…I'm married to Inuyasha…  
**Inutori:** Before anyone asks, the reason why Kouga's mate isn't Ayame is because I've really only known the manga storyline, and she's not a part of it, sorry. Anyways, I hope ya'll will review for me, onegai?


End file.
